Nikos Kazantzakis
Greek writer and philosopher
Cite this page
“Nikos Kazantzakis.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/nikos-kazantzakis/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.
Nikos Kazantzakis. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 26, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/nikos-kazantzakis/
“Nikos Kazantzakis.” thisDay. Accessed October 26, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/nikos-kazantzakis/.
Who was Nikos Kazantzakis?
Nikos Kazantzakis (; Greek: Νίκος Καζαντζάκης [ˈnikos kazanˈd͡zakis]; 2 March [OS 18 February] 1883 – 26 October 1957) was a Greek writer, journalist, politician, poet and philosopher. Nikos Kazantzakis was born in the town of Kandiye (now Heraklion) in Crete, with origins from the village of Myrtia. Kazantzakis's novels include Zorba the Greek (published in 1946 as Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas), Christ Recrucified (1948), Captain Michalis (1950, translated as Freedom or Death), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1955). He also wrote plays, travel books, memoirs, and philosophical essays, such as The Saviors of God: Spiritual Exercises. His fame spread in the English-speaking world due to cinematic adaptations of Zorba the Greek (1964) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).
Historical significance
Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years, and remains the most translated Greek author worldwide. He also translated a number of notable works into Modern Greek, such as the Divine Comedy, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, On the Origin of Species, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.
Cite this page
“Nikos Kazantzakis.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/nikos-kazantzakis/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.
Nikos Kazantzakis. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 26, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/nikos-kazantzakis/
“Nikos Kazantzakis.” thisDay. Accessed October 26, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/nikos-kazantzakis/.